On the morning of 19 November 2005, a Marine squad was caught in an
ambush in Haditha. One Marine was killed, and two were wounded, when
insurgents detonated an IED under the fourth vehicle in the convoy.
Help arrived shortly after the blast.
Lieutenant William Kallop led a Quick Reaction Force to the
scene of the ambush. While evacuating the
wounded, the Marines received fire from houses to the south. Lt. Kallop ordered Staff
Sergeant Frank Wuterich to lead a fireteam south and clear
those houses. [Click here for an overview
of the area.]
SSgt Wuterich led a team consisting of Cpl Salinas, LCpl Mendoza and LCpl
Tatum. As they approached House 1 (as it's identified in the
investigation), Wuterich told the Marines that the house was to be treated as
hostile.
Meanwhile, Lt Kallop was told that Marines might have located the trigger house for the IED
to the north. He went north with that fireteam.
The order of entry in House 1 is uncertain. But facts regarding actions
within the house have been established.
Cpl
Salinas entered House 1 and shot and killed Khamisa Tuema Ali in
the hallway by the stairs. SSgt Wuterich
and LCpl Tatum followed into the hallway with LCpl Mendoza entering
last.
LCpl Mendoza moved to the room to the right of the hallway, observed Guhid Abdal Hameed
Hasan (Guhid) inside the room and shot him when Guhid made a movement
toward the closet.
While Cpl Salinas, LCpl Tatum and SSgt Wuterich were still in the
hallway they heard a noise coming from the room to their left. Cpl Salinas and SSgt Wuterich
were convinced that sound was the sound of an AK-47
rifle being racked. LCpl Tatum agreed, so he and Cpl Salinas threw
grenades into the room.
One of the two grenades exploded and shortly after the blast, SSgt Wuterich and LCpl Tatum entered the room and began firing at
occupants in the room. As a result
Abdul Hameed Husin Ali (Abdul), Waleed Abdul Hameed Hasan, Abdullah
Waleed Abdul Hameed
(Abdullah) and Asmaa Salman Rasif (Asmaa) were killed and Eman Waleed Abd Al Hameed and Abd Al-Rahman
Waleed Al Hameed were injured by a combination of the grenade
fragments and or bullets.
Someone shouted that a runner had gone toward House 2. SSgt Wuterich ordered the Marines to leave
House 1 and pursue the runner into House 2.
Six dead, two injured Iraqis
The six dead Iraqis were: Khamisa Tuema Ali, Guhid Abdal Hameed
Hasan (Guhid), Abdul Hameed Husin Ali (Abdul), Waleed Abdul Hameed Hasan, Abdullah Waleed Abdul Hameed
(Abdullah), and Asmaa Salman Rasif (Asmaa).
The two injured by a combination of the grenade fragments and/or
bullets were Eman Waleed Abd Al Hameed and Abd Al-Rahman
Waleed Al Hameed.
Gruesome corpses no proof of crimes
To look at the Haditha fraud in the best possible light, Tim McGirk
was duped by Abdul Rahman Al-Mashhadani (one of two members of the
so-called Hammurabi Human Rights Organization). Death by grenade
leaves a horrific picture, but it is no more proof of a crime than the
gruesome aftermath of a highway fatality.
